Premier League manager shares his thoughts on Real Madrid sacking Alonso: ‘Result were not really bad’

Story byPremier League manager shares his thoughts on Real Madrid sacking Alonso: ‘Result were not really bad’Madrid UniversalSun, January 18, 2026 at 8:00 AM UTC·2 min readA lot has been made about Xabi Alonso’s sacking from Real Madrid and how the decision paints a very poor image of the club’s dressing room. After all, it is now coming to light how the dressing room refuses to listen to a manager, obey tactics, and find any attempt to instil discipline to be ‘suffocating.’AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn fact, many have come out in support of Alonso, labelling Florentino Perez’s decision to be hasty, poorly timed, and one made in support of player power. Spanish manager speaksSpeaking to the media in a recent interview via MARCA, current Bournemouth manager and Spanish tactician Andoni Iraola was asked about Real Madrid’s sacking of Xabi Alonso and what he made of the sudden decision. The coach emphasised how what is shown to the public is only a fraction of the tension present internally and how the decision must have been made considering multiple factors.“Real Madrid letting Xabi go? I think there must have been more things behind the scenes than just the results.”Was Alonso made the scapegoat for the dressing room’s failures? (Photo by Denis Doyle/)AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHe then stressed that Real Madrid’s results alone were not sufficient to warrant his axing given that they were second in La Liga, still alive in the Copa del Rey, and had only lost a close game to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup at the time.“It’s a question of feelings more than results because results weren’t really bad,” he said. Sacking Alonso immediately in the aftermath of the Super Cup single-handedly cost Real Madrid their Copa del Rey hopes as the team was left exposed with a new coach and sudden change of philosophy ahead of a knockout fixture. While the club declared that Alonso left with a mutual agreement, it is blatantly clear that the manager was axed even considering how he was looking forward to the rest of the season after the defeat to Barcelona. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementChanging managers midway through the season rarely ever serves a club well, and it remains to be seen if Alvaro Arbeloa is indeed the man for the job.